Respect and Humility

0:00 Okay, are you ready? Ready or not it's going to happen, so that's no choice in the matter. So tonight I'm going to talk about the two ideas of respect and humility. Report an error in the passage at 0:00

0:17 And the reason for that is because at a recent retreat at Shana Grove we looked at the Mahamangala Sutta, the Sutta on the Great Blessings. And in that Sutta there is a line about respect and humility, Garavo Chanivato, which basically is the Pāli words that mean respect and humility. And so having just done that, I thought I would just kind of talk about a similar theme because it's, I don't know, it's easy. And also it's kind of nice. Report an error in the passage at 0:17

0:50 I don't think we often necessarily talk about these things so much. The idea of humility, the modern world does not seem to be conducive to humility, so to speak. And often people kind of go the wrong way, but it has some very severe consequences if we are not humble and if we are too full of ourselves or the egos get too large or whatever. Report an error in the passage at 0:50

1:14 It has some very negative consequences, especially in terms of the spiritual practice. practice. Report an error in the passage at 1:14

1:23 The Mahamangala Sutta is a nice Sutta because it has a large number of spiritual qualities that are mentioned in that Sutta, one after the other, two of those being humility and respect. But there's many kind of nice little things in that particular Sutta, in these verses. And one of them, which I really like, is the idea of having a job without stress. Report an error in the passage at 1:23

1:48 Yeah, this is one of the great blessings in life, having a job without stress. And I find it so fascinating because this sutta was spoken two and a half thousand years ago, right? And you would have thought two and a half thousand years ago things would have been very simple. You kind of grow a bit of rice and you work a bit in the morning and you kind of then you chillax for the rest of the day or whatever. You think something very, very nice and easy. Report an error in the passage at 1:48

2:14 But actually 2,500 years ago, guess what? Jobs, work was stressful, life was stressful. Nothing has really changed all that much in 2,500 years. The human realm, the human experience is largely the same across time and across cultures and across anything really. If you're a human being, you're going to have certain experiences. So I find that really nice. It reminds me of the proximity. Report an error in the passage at 2:14

2:41 of the time of the Buddha to the present day. It's so easy to feel that we live in a very different time. We live in a very different culture and things that are so different we can't really relate to the time of the Buddha. But when you see these kind of things, suddenly you can relate. Suddenly you understand why we are basically human beings are human beings. Report an error in the passage at 2:41

3:05 They don't change all that much. Problems remain the same. Next life, same problems. problems yeah that's the That's the problem. The same problems kind of remain and the remainers just go on in this way. And so respect and humility. I will start off by talking a bit about the idea of humility. Nivato in Pāli. It literally means something like without wind. Report an error in the passage at 3:05

3:30 Wind is like noisy. You are present. Something is there. So when there's no wind, it's peaceful and quiet. That is like the idea here of humility. Report an error in the passage at 3:30

3:42 And one of the things that occurs to me when I think about the idea of humility is the idea of not being too sure of oneself or rather being aware of one's lack of knowledge, understanding the limitations of one's own qualities and what one knows and what one does not know. If you are too full of yourself, if your cup is full and you haven't emptied out before you come to a dharma talk or whatever, you already think you know everything. Report an error in the passage at 3:42

4:15 Nothing goes in. It's already full in there. You should knock a few things out. It comes out of the ear. Ding! It comes out this way. Because otherwise, you're already full. What can you do? And so humility is the sense of, OK, when you... You really don't know, you are aware of that. You don't pretend to know more than you actually do. And you have a sense for that lack of knowledge, a feeling that you should go somewhere else, that there are things in the world, people in the world who know more than you, where you can go to kind of understand things, where your lack can be fulfilled through other means. Report an error in the passage at 4:15

4:54 This is a very important part of humility. Being too overconfident, being too sure that you know things actually is a quality that will hinder you on the path. People who think they know, there is no way that they will be able to actually find out if it turns out they're wrong. If you think you know but you're wrong, there's no possibility for making progress. Report an error in the passage at 4:54

5:18 This is a very serious concern also in the suttas. It is specifically said that if you think you are even enlightened, if you've gone all the way to the end of the path or you are a streamenter or whatever, but you are not, you have the wrong view, or if you think that you have a deep state of samādhi when you don't, then you are blocked from achieving those things because you think you've got them, so you're not even going to try. Report an error in the passage at 5:18

5:43 And that is kind of really, really problematic. So being honest, having clarity about oneself is kind of a prerequisite for making progress on the spiritual path. So this is kind of the idea of humility, understanding one's own limitations in a sense. Report an error in the passage at 5:43

6:02 Humility does not mean that you are lacking in confidence. It does not mean that you are kind of someone like a mat for other people to step on. It doesn't mean that. It doesn't mean you can never be assertive about things. So you have to kind of understand humility in the right way. It is more about understanding your own limitations rather than allowing the world to kind of just walk all over you. Report an error in the passage at 6:02

6:28 That's not what humility is about. And sometimes I think we misunderstand these very important and profound concepts that are so important on the spiritual path. Report an error in the passage at 6:28

6:40 So that is one way of thinking about this. Another way of thinking about the idea of humility when I... The idea of not having too much of an ego. A big ego is usually the opposite of humility. Because a big ego means a sense of self-importance that is beyond what is reasonable. The sense of putting yourself in a place of overconfidence in your abilities and everything. Report an error in the passage at 6:40

7:09 That sense of overconfidence. Putting yourself in a place where you don't belong, that is also kind of very problematic for the spiritual path. The overestimation of yourself in various ways. And of course we know that one of the important things on the Buddhist path is to reduce that sense of self, is to reduce the ego. Report an error in the passage at 7:09

7:32 This is what we're trying. And so the very natural consequence of practicing the spiritual path in the right way. Of you reducing your ego, there's a natural sense of humility that arises as you reduce your ego. These are like almost inverse of each other. As your ego goes down, humility goes up. These are inversely proportional to each other. Report an error in the passage at 7:32

7:58 This is what I learned in engineering school. Inversely proportional. Sounds good, doesn't it? Maybe I'm not being humble enough. that right? I don't know. Report an error in the passage at 7:58

8:10 So what that means is that the further on on the path you are, the more you have practiced the spiritual path, the more humble you ought to be. So humility should be reflected in you if you are a person who has gone a long way on the path. So someone who is too full of themselves, the ego seems a bit large, it's usually a bad sign from a spiritual point of view. It's usually the humble people are the ones who have gone a long way. Report an error in the passage at 8:10

8:37 And what it means, and this is kind of really interesting, is that the people who have given up the ego completely, they are the arahants, the fully enlightened people. And so the humblest people in the world are also the ones who are fully enlightened. So a fully enlightened person should actually be very humble. It should be someone who kind of fades away. There's no sense of self there. Report an error in the passage at 8:37

9:01 There's no ego. There's no kind of presence beyond the ordinary presence of a human being. There's no sense of projecting themselves onto the world for the world to see them. there. Report an error in the passage at 9:01

9:14 I think that is a very important point because sometimes when we think of people who are enlightened as very, perhaps very forceful or strong personalities or very powerful in certain ways, and maybe they can be in certain ways, but at the same time they also have very little ego. And that is kind of, I think, a very important thing, obviously, to look for, that humility should be there. The Buddha probably was, surprisingly enough, a very humble person. Report an error in the passage at 9:14

9:45 One of the beautiful stories from the suttas, the suttas is the word of the Buddha, this is where you find the most important teachings of Buddhism, the core foundational teachings of Buddhism in all schools. One of these great little suttas is where Venerable Sāriputta, Venerable Sāriputta is the Buddha's right hand monk. Report an error in the passage at 9:45

10:07 We don't have him here I think. Is he here? No, there's no Venerable Sāriputta here. Usually you can see him on the shrine sitting on the Buddha's right-hand side. This is not Venerable Sāriputta over here. They're sitting on the... And so Venerable Sāriputta, you know, sometimes these great monastics who are fully enlightened, he was supposed to be fully awakened and enlightened, sometimes they roar, their lions roar in the assemblies. Report an error in the passage at 10:07

10:38 This was one such occasion when Venerable Sāriputta was roaring his lion's roar. It sounds kind of awesome, doesn't it? Roaring your lion's roar. And the idea with the lion's roar is something that is very kind of powerful in a certain way. It has an impact when you hear it. When you hear it, you kind of tremble a little bit. What is going on here? This is really, really... Report an error in the passage at 10:38

11:01 interesting or profound, or it challenges your conceptions a little bit about the world and about life or This is kind of the idea of the lion's roar. Someone who is a lion is someone who on the one hand is a very powerful person. How can you have a lion's roar without being powerful? Have any of you ever heard a lion's roar before? Report an error in the passage at 11:01

11:23 You have? Yeah, you have heard lions roar? Okay, good. In the old days, in the movie theatres, they had one of these kind of famous movies that started off with a lion's roar. Remember that? That was a long time ago. I remember that when I was a child. Anyone else is as old as I am. Probably a few are actually older than me, so that's okay. But the lion's roar is kind of awesome when you hear it. Report an error in the passage at 11:23

11:46 And so Venerable Sāriputta roars his lion's roar in the assembly here. And one of the things that he says as he roars his lion's roar, he says that just like an outcast boy or girl, when they go into the village holding a pot or pan, presumably they are begging, they're outcasts, right? They don't really have a proper employment or anything. And you can imagine if you're an outcast and you go into the village, village is like high society. Report an error in the passage at 11:46

12:27 things and so just like an outcast boy or girl going into the village or town with a pot or pan feels Humble, really, really humble when they go into the village or town. In the same way, says Venerable Sāriputta, I am just like that outcast boy or girl. Report an error in the passage at 12:27

12:48 Yeah, that's kind of extraordinary. These are the greatest spiritual masters in human history. Yeah, this is the right-hand monk of the Buddha himself. And he says of himself that he feels like this outcast boy and girl. Isn't that kind of extraordinary? Report an error in the passage at 12:48

13:07 In other words, the degree of humility is very profound there. But of course, what is also interesting is that he is also roaring a lion's roar at the same time. You can't really imagine an outcast boy or girl roaring a lion's roar. It doesn't sound very likely. They'd probably be chased out of the village if they tried to roar a lion's roar, if you're an outcast boy or girl. Report an error in the passage at 13:07

13:33 Even though he is very humble in one way, obviously also very confident. The confidence that comes from absolute certainty, the confidence that comes from knowing what you're talking about, deep knowledge and understanding of reality. So he can roar the lion's roar with full confidence and at the same time be completely humble. Report an error in the passage at 13:33

13:56 That is what is so interesting. You can be fully confident and completely humble at the same time. And this is one of those kind of paradoxes of being someone who is enlightened. Being the Buddha, being Venerable Sāriputta, being whatever. These contradictory qualities of a being that normally you don't see together. Report an error in the passage at 13:56

14:16 You see that in the enlightened ones. That's why they are enlightened. You should expect them to be slightly different from the run-of-the-mill person, so to speak. So this is Venerable Sāriputta, this contradiction in terms almost. There's another story that Ajahn Brahm sometimes tells, I hope he hasn't told it here recently because I know he likes to tell stories when he comes here. Report an error in the passage at 14:16

14:41 This to me is one of the beautiful stories that he tells when he was a young monk in Thailand. And after his early years when he was with Ajahn Chah, after the first five years, you can go kind of wandering. That's one of the things you would often do in these Buddhist countries. And so you go wandering. This wandering is called Thu Dong in Thailand. It's called Charika usually in the Pāli tradition. And it means you kind of just walk from village to village. Report an error in the passage at 14:41

15:07 You stay in the forest for a while. You meditate when you find a good place. And then you walk on after that. And some of the greatest modern Monks? Yeah, we're Charika monks. There were Tudong monks. And there are some great stories of some of those Tudong or Charika monks. So Ajahn Brahm was doing this Charika and he was wandering around and as he was wandering around he was going to some of the great teachers of Thailand. Report an error in the passage at 15:07

15:32 And Thailand in the, this would have been in the late 1970s, early 80s, there were some very famous meditation mass in Thailand at that time. This was before Thailand became Really wealthy. In those days, Thailand was still a very poor country. In the last 40 years, Thailand has kind of skyrocketed in standards of living. Report an error in the passage at 15:32

15:56 So now it is very different. But in those days, a very poor country. You know what Ajahn Brahm talks about, what he was eating in those days. Frogs on rice and that kind of stuff. And when he squeezed the frogs, they would pee on his rice. You know the story. So you had to be a pretty stoic kind of character to deal with that. Report an error in the passage at 15:56

16:14 so I always No, I'm not going to go there. Anyway. So he was wandering around and then one day one of the monasteries that he wanted to visit was a monastery of a monk called Ajahn Tate. A very, very famous meditation master at that time. And he was so famous and he was so revered by the whole of Thailand that they The king had built him a special hall called the Mandapa. Mandapa is a Pāli word which means like a pavilion or a hall. And so the king had built him this beautiful hall. Report an error in the passage at 16:14

16:48 And those halls in Thailand, when you see them, they are really quite beautiful. They are white with kind of colors and little dragons in gold coming out and these kind of things they're really spectacular if you ever go to Bangkok go and visit some of the beautiful temples in Bangkok like what Arun Arun is the dawn temple in Bangkok very very beautiful And so he goes there. Report an error in the passage at 16:48

17:16 Ajahn Brahm arrives at the monastery and he goes to this mandapa, this hall, because he assumes, well, I'm going to visit Ajahn Tate. Let me go there and see if I can visit Ajahn Tate. And so he comes there, he has all these questions in his mind, he's going to ask Ajahn Tate, this is the enlightened master, this is my chance to find out all these profound truths that I've been wondering about for so long. Report an error in the passage at 17:16

17:40 And so he goes there, he goes into the door, he kind of knocks on the door, and he opens the door, and he looks inside. Oh, it's empty inside, there's no one here. So he starts closing the door. Then he says, wait a minute. And he opens the door again, and he looks inside. And when he looks inside the second time, in the far corner, he sees this old monk sitting on a chair in the corner far away. Report an error in the passage at 17:40

18:07 And that right there. Ajahn Brahmali is Ajahn Tate. And then he goes up to Ajahn Tate, all the way up, he sits down and he bows down as you do to a very senior monk. And so he bows down to Ajahn Tate. And as he bows down to Ajahn Tate and he sits down in his presence, his mind goes completely blank. All the questions that he had before are suddenly gone. Is that because, why do all the questions just disappear like that? Report an error in the passage at 18:07

18:39 Is it because he's nervous? No, nothing to do with nervousness at all. It's just that when you enter into the presence of someone who is truly peaceful, someone who is truly relaxed, it's like you also relax. Your mind relaxes. And when your mind is really relaxed, it's just impossible to formulate any questions. The questions are all gone. Report an error in the passage at 18:39

19:02 And then he realized that when he came in to that building and he opened the door and he looked inside for the first time and he didn't see anyone, the reason why he didn't see anyone is because Ajahn Tate, he kind of just disappears. Here is not someone who kind of shouts out, here I am. Here is not someone who tries to make a scene or to try to be anyone. Report an error in the passage at 19:02

19:27 Here is someone who kind of fades into the background. Someone who doesn't make anything out of themselves. And that's why he couldn't see him. It's like when the ego is gone, when the sense of self is gone. There's nothing there. You don't want to express yourself anymore. You don't want to say to the world that you exist. Report an error in the passage at 19:27

19:45 You are there for any particular reason. There's nothing really to be said anymore. And you just fade away into the background. And if someone wants to come and find you, and they can find you, because they can distinguish you from the wall behind, sometimes that can be hard if you fade into the wall, but sometimes you can still see the outline of the person. Report an error in the passage at 19:45

20:05 And so he saw the outline of the person, then they can come and ask him. That is kind of the ideal kind of Arahant. The person who has faded away. The ego is so small, it's impossible to see the person anymore. They kind of hardly exist in the world at all. And so that to me is a picture of the kind of the humble person who doesn't say anything, who doesn't do anything that comes from any kind of sense of self. Report an error in the passage at 20:05

20:36 And not only Ajahn Tate, but Ajahn Brahm is also a bit like that. If you come into the monastery in Perth sometimes and you go upstairs at tea time, because that's kind of when the monks hang out, no lay people are allowed there. You know that? Secret business of the monks happening. You cannot go there at tea time. So if you want to know what the monks are talking about in secret, you have to install a listening device into the hall there. Report an error in the passage at 20:36

21:04 Don't do that. It would be bad karma. I don't recommend it. Report an error in the passage at 21:04

21:10 But sometimes you go up there and I go up there and I see Ajahn Brahm is sitting there and some of the monks are sitting there and sometimes the monks are chatting a bit. But sometimes Ajahn Brahm, he doesn't even take part in the conversation. He sits there. It's almost as if he doesn't exist. He just sits there. Report an error in the passage at 21:10

21:27 Nothing really happens. He has a very peaceful and beautiful presence. And then I sit down next to Ajahn Brahm and because he's peaceful, I become peaceful and there's nothing to say, have a cup of tea and I walk out again without saying a word sometimes. It's actually really nice. There's no compulsion to speak, no need to say anything. This is very beautiful. Very often the reason why we speak is because we want to say that we exist. Report an error in the passage at 21:27

21:56 We want to make our presence known. And a person who's that peaceful has no need to do that. So when you are humble in this way, When you kind of Have an open mind. You don't kind of think that you know everything that there is to be known already, but you recognize that there are other people in the world who know more than you in almost any field, but certainly in the spiritual field. Report an error in the passage at 21:56

22:22 The spiritual field, of course, is the place where you can expect most profundity. Once you have that humility, it opens up the possibility of listening to those who may know more than you in the spiritual sphere. And so once you do that, it opens up the possibility of a spiritual practice of your own by learning, taking on the teachings of others. Report an error in the passage at 22:22

22:47 So from that humility arises the possibility of respect. From there respect becomes possible. Without humility it is really impossible to have respect for anything in the world. Because humility opens up the possibility that maybe there are spiritual practitioners who have gone a long way, who have understood the world in a more profound way than I have. Report an error in the passage at 22:47

23:11 And then this whole new world opens up as a consequence. In fact this is one of the... Fundamental ideas of right view. One of the ideas, one of the factors of right view is the idea, the belief or the faith or the confidence that there are beings in the world who have spiritual insights. If you haven't got that right view, in other words, if you haven't got that humility, there is no hope for you. There's nowhere to go. You're not going to go anywhere. Report an error in the passage at 23:11

23:41 You're kind of blocked because of that. And so humility engenders the possibility of respect. So what does it mean to have respect? How does this actually happen? And what it means, it means that we have something that we can look up to, a place where you can find maybe the answers in life, something that you hold, put on the pedestal a little bit, something that you may bow down to. Report an error in the passage at 23:41

24:09 That's why we bow down here in this hall. I'll talk a little bit more about bowing later on. That's the idea of respect, something you hold in esteem, something you revere because there is something there that is more than you, that adds to your life and makes your life richer and more meaningful. And one of the kind of remarkable little things in the suttas, I always come back to the suttas, which is the word of the Buddha, is where the Buddha himself says, he says that a person who has no... Report an error in the passage at 24:09

24:44 Nothing to respect in the world is someone who lives in suffering. The Buddha says, and what is interesting here, he's talking about himself, not talking about someone else. Anyone in the world, he's talking about anyone else as well, of course, but also himself. A person who has nothing to respect lives in suffering. And we know that in a sense. Report an error in the passage at 24:44

25:08 If you look around the modern world, there are too many people who... Who don't have any sense of meaning in life, who don't have anything that they respect. Too many people who are just materialists in the world, we are all equal, we are all the same, no one really knows any more than anyone else. And too much of that equality, too much of that sense that we are all the same, that there's no one else who actually knows more than us, actually can lead to a sense of meaninglessness in life. Report an error in the passage at 25:08

25:35 Because it means that I am on top of the world in a sense. No one is really higher than me. And that can be profoundly problematic because if you understand your own limitations, your own suffering, your own problems in your own life, it's kind of despairing if there is nothing in the world that is higher than you. Report an error in the passage at 25:35

25:56 And so the idea of being able to... Respect something, having something that is higher, gives life a sense of meaning, gives life a sense of purpose, and it allows you something more. It adds something very important to what life is all about. And so for that reason, the idea of being able to respect something is, I think, fundamental for human life to be meaningful and purposeful. Report an error in the passage at 25:56

26:23 And so the Buddha himself asked this question. And then he asks himself, well if Who should I respect? If it is true that you live in suffering without respecting anyone, the Buddha asked the question, well, who should I respect? And then he kind of surveys the world and he looks around and he tries to think, well, who in the world has more virtue than I have? Report an error in the passage at 26:23

26:49 Who in the world has more deep meditation than I have? Who in the world has more wisdom? Who in the world has a greater degree of liberation? Report an error in the passage at 26:49

26:59 And he knows that he has reached the pinnacle of all of these things. And because he has reached the pinnacle of all of these things, he knows that there is no one in the world who has more than these than the Buddha. And because no one in the world has more than he has, there is no one really he can respect or revere or bow down to or whatever. Report an error in the passage at 26:59

27:19 And so then he thinks, well, what then should I respect in the world? What should I revere? And then he says, I will revere this very dhamma, this very teaching, this very insight, this very truth that I have discovered through the awakening experience. That is what I will revere. And so the Buddha, in a sense, that is where he kind of finds that respect in his own life. Report an error in the passage at 27:19

27:46 And that is kind of fascinating that even the Buddha says that. It's a kind of very counterintuitive. We expect the Buddha to be beyond these things. But actually even for the Buddha it's nice to have that sense of something that is great, something that is worthy of reverence and respect. And this is how important it is and how much it actually matters. Report an error in the passage at 27:46

28:09 So what about anyone who is not an arahant? What should we kind of revere? Should we also revere that dhamma? Yeah, maybe. But for us it is kind of far easier because for most people there are other beings in the world that are worthy of that respect. And so the starting point of respect in Buddhism is always respect for the Buddha himself. Report an error in the passage at 28:09

28:32 That's kind of where all respect begins. It starts off with the Buddha. And what does it mean to respect the Buddha? It means that you have a sense of faith, a sense of understanding that there was a being 2,500 years ago who was awakened to something profound and beautiful. It means that you somehow try to relate to this person in a way that actually you feel that this person kind of becomes your teacher in a profound sense. Report an error in the passage at 28:32

29:03 Now one of the dangers that I always talk about with the Buddha is that to many of us he can seem very far away, very unrelatable. One of the reasons is because he lived two and a half thousand years ago, another reason is because he lived in a different culture, but another reason is also that the stories that we hear about the Buddha are often so alien from our ordinary existence. Report an error in the passage at 29:03

29:28 We hear about the Buddha as being full of supernormal powers. We hear about the Buddha who practiced for four incalculable eons to become a Buddha. All of these things create a barrier between us and the Buddha. One of the most important things that we need to do to be able to respect the Buddha in the right way is to understand that the Buddha... Report an error in the passage at 29:28

29:51 ...was ultimately a human being. He was not fundamentally different from us. The only difference is that he took that human state and took it as far as it possibly can be taken in terms of insight, wisdom and liberation. That is the distinction between us and the Buddha. But we have the same potential as the Buddha. That is the point. And that is the common humanity that sort of... Report an error in the passage at 29:51

30:18 Between us and the Buddha, which kind of makes the Buddha come alive in a very, very different way. Once you understand the Buddha as a human being, once you understand the Buddha as someone you can approach, someone you can ask questions of, someone you can argue with, I don't think that is not right. Report an error in the passage at 30:18

30:39 Venerable sir, this happened at the time of the Buddha. They would argue with the Buddha. It's kind of funny when that happens. Can you really argue with the Buddha? Of course you can, because he's a human being. That's kind of the point. And that kind of humanizes the Buddha. That doesn't mean that you are right, the Buddha is wrong. Report an error in the passage at 30:39

30:56 It just means that you are arguing with him. That's all it means. But it humanizes the Buddha, because we argue with people. That's kind of what we do. This is the way it is. And so you start to see the Buddha in the right way. And the two things that... Kind of make the Buddha special is not all of these weird things. The two things that make him special is his wisdom, his insight into the human condition, his insight into especially happiness and suffering, because what everyone in the world wants is more happiness and they want to avoid suffering. Report an error in the passage at 30:56

31:29 This goes to the very core of what we want as human beings. By happiness I mean that in a very broad sense, contentment, love, compassion. Peace, all of these things are kinds of happiness. And we want to avoid the sufferings of life. Everything we do. In the world, it kind of revolves around these things, moving towards greater happiness, moving away from suffering. And this is what the Buddha discovered. Report an error in the passage at 31:29

31:56 And because he discovered that, he essentially discovered the idea, the answer to the meaning of life itself. If this is what drives us as human beings, it means that he discovered the answer to the meaning of life. And I think that is one of the most important things to kind of grasp about the Buddha. Report an error in the passage at 31:56

32:16 He understood the meaning of life. Because if you believe that, if you're willing to accept that maybe that is the case, then you don't need to search any further. That means you are there. This is what you have been looking for all the time. The meaning of life. What this existence really is about. And that is kind of the beautiful thing. Report an error in the passage at 32:16

32:36 And I think the thing that is maybe... Perhaps undersold or not really properly understood about the Dhamma, that that is ultimately what it is concerned about. And so the Buddha has on the one hand the profound wisdom to understand the meaning of life, especially this distinction between happiness and suffering, where to find real happiness, how to avoid suffering fully and completely. Report an error in the passage at 32:36

33:01 On the other hand, the Buddha is the teacher. He teaches the world. He is the most profound teacher because not only does he understand what everyone wants, what the goal of every human existence really is, But he also understands the path that leads to that goal, that is part of the awakening experience. And because he understands the path, he's able to show us the way towards that very goal, towards that very meaning of life. Report an error in the passage at 33:01

33:32 These two things coming together is what makes the Buddha so extraordinary. And of course, that ability as a teacher... It also means compassion, because he sees the world is suffering, he knows he has the answer to the problem, and then compassion arises, because he wants to share that answer with the world. Report an error in the passage at 33:32

33:52 And so these are the two things that stand out. If you look at the usual formula of how the Buddha is described in the suttas, these are the two qualities that stand out. Wisdom and compassion. Compassion yeah teacher and And someone who has the insight into the nature of existence. That is what really stands out there. And all the other things that you may hear about the Buddha is mostly just mythology. Report an error in the passage at 33:52

34:19 It's mostly just legend. It is not really important. Is some of it true? Maybe, but it doesn't really matter. This is the thing to focus on. And that is where we try, where we can actually understand the Buddha, where we can start to... Bow down to the Buddha. And because we understand what is going on with this person. And so this is one of the things I would really recommend you to make a part of your practice. Report an error in the passage at 34:19

34:47 The idea of bowing down. Bowing down, coming into the shrine or hill, bowing down to the Buddha is a very beautiful practice. You have no idea how powerful it can be if you do it in the right way. And I know that in a Western society the idea of bowing is kind of hard. I remember the first time I had to bow. There was something in me kind of not rejecting that in a sense. Report an error in the passage at 34:47

35:16 It wasn't kind of easy the first time I had to do it. But once you know and understand the power behind it, you really want to do it. Because actually it's a very beautiful thing. okay bow Report an error in the passage at 35:16

35:27 Because what we are doing when we are bowing down to the Buddha is that we are bowing down to those qualities that the Buddha is. The Buddha is no longer an ordinary human being. The Buddha no longer has an ego. The Buddha hasn't got any defilements. You're not bowing down to an ego. If you bow down to an ego, it's kind of painful and difficult. Report an error in the passage at 35:27

35:51 But what we are bowing down to are the qualities of the Buddha. We're bowing down to the wisdom, to the compassion, to the peace, to the stillness, to the virtue, to the kindness, to the generosity, to the gratitude. All of these qualities of the Buddha. The humility, if you like. All of these things is what you're bowing down to. And if you bow down to the Buddha in that way, it means that you are respecting those qualities. Report an error in the passage at 35:51

36:22 If you respect those qualities by bowing down, it means those qualities will start to grow within you. And this is the power of bowing down. It actually helps you, enables you to build up those spiritual qualities that the Buddha represents, or the statue of the Buddha. This is not really the Buddha, by the way. You know that? This is just a statue. So this is just a representation of the Buddha, just to be absolutely clear. Sometimes we call this a Buddha. Report an error in the passage at 36:22

36:51 This is kind of in common parlance. Actually wrong. This is not a Buddha. This is a metal statue. Just to be clear about that. In case you had any doubt, now you know. But bowing down to that is bowing down to representation of those qualities. And that is why it is so powerful. And so I would recommend you to, if you find it difficult, try, if you come from a background where you grew up in Australia, you didn't grow up in a Buddhist country or whatever, try it out. Report an error in the passage at 36:51

37:20 Get used to it. Because it is a very beautiful thing. Especially do it at home. It's kind of easy maybe to do it when you are in a group of people like this because everyone does it. But do it at home. Have a place in your house where you have a beautiful statue of the Buddha. And a beautiful statue is one that ideally represents those qualities that you feel inspired by. Report an error in the passage at 37:20

37:46 By the facial features, by the way, the whole... the whole statue is made, and then you train, you practice at home bowing down to the Buddha. And when you do it on your own like that, it's much more powerful. But in the... to experience this idea of respecting those qualities and then growing in them as a consequence. This is a beautiful way of showing that respect to the Buddha. Report an error in the passage at 37:46

38:16 But in the book, Buddhism, the idea of respect doesn't really end with the Buddha. The Buddha is really only the starting point and the sequence of respects in the Dhamma. The second one is then the... Dhamma itself, the teaching of the Buddha, is the second thing that we respect. In fact, in the modern world, because we don't have direct access to the Buddha, apart from the stories, apart from the dhamma itself, usually the first place of respect actually is the dhamma. Report an error in the passage at 38:16

38:48 And then we kind of derive our respect of the Buddha from the dhamma, because the dhamma, the teachings, is what we have. So the Buddha teaches the dhamma. Now we have that dhamma and then we infer the qualities of the Buddha as a consequence. So what does it mean to respect the dhamma? What it means to respect the dhamma is to understand that these scriptures that we have inherited from the Buddha is the most valuable thing that any human being can give to any other human being in this life, in this world, in this existence. Report an error in the passage at 38:48

39:25 Because these are the teachings. This is a gift that enables you to achieve the highest happiness and to eliminate all suffering in life. There is nothing more valuable that one human being can give to another. And so when you get hold of the Dhamma, these teachings of the Buddha, I don't know how many volumes, depending on how you calculate, 16 volumes, 20 volumes, thereabouts, when you get your hands on this, you have your hands on the most valuable thing that exists in the world today. Report an error in the passage at 39:25

39:56 This is the most important literature that has ever been presented or collected in human history. That is what you have your hands on. And that's kind of... Isn't that amazing? That is available today. The most important literature put together in human history is available right here and now. If you go over to the library over there, it is available right there. If you go into that library and you see the word of the Buddha standing on the shelf over there, you should start to tremble a little bit. Report an error in the passage at 39:56

40:34 Yeah, because right there on that shelf is the most important literature in the history of humanity. Have you ever thought that thought before? You should go in and say, oh, I'm getting close now. And when you take the book out of the shelf, it's like, oh, I'm not sure if I'm able to hold on to it. You know what I mean? This is basically what it is, because this is the value of these teachings. Report an error in the passage at 40:34

40:58 They are something extraordinary. And so, It means that when you start reading those teachings, when you open those books and you start looking at what the Buddha taught, you have a sense of reverence, a sense of respect, a feeling that you are in the presence of something really high, something extraordinary. Report an error in the passage at 40:58

41:18 You read it with great care. You read it slowly. You consider every phrase. You consider every paragraph. What does it really mean? What should I be doing now? Should I live my life differently? What are the implications of this? Report an error in the passage at 41:18

41:32 Eventually you unearth this incredible treasure that has been given to you. Everyone here has received that gift from the Buddha. Thank you Buddha. Wow! Thank you for giving this to the world. The Buddha spent 45 years of his life just teaching others out of compassion because he knew that he had that answer that everyone is looking for. Report an error in the passage at 41:32

41:55 That is extraordinary. And that is what you get by seeing that dhamma. This is what it means to respect the Buddha. So when we bow down here three times, first for the Buddha, then for that dhamma. Report an error in the passage at 41:55

42:08 Then, when you respect the dhamma, the next thing that you respect is the saṅgha. Because the Saṅgha here means the noble Saṅgha, the noble people in the world. The noble ones are those who have practiced the Dhamma to the point where they see and they get the same insight as the Buddha himself. And so you understand that this Dhamma has the power to Report an error in the passage at 42:08

42:43 to that Saṅgha, that Saṅgha of noble people. Who are those noble people? Well, you don't really know exactly who they are. Yeah, you can make a few guesses, you know, but... That they exist in the world is obviously the case because as long as the dhamma is available these people will be available in the world. I have no doubt that they exist in the world. Report an error in the passage at 42:43

43:05 And so you bow down to those people because they are practicing the same path. And if you have access to those people they are able to give you the same teachings as the Buddha. They may give them in a slightly different way. They may tell a few more stories. Tell a few jokes maybe. They may express it in a way that you're not used to, but that's kind of the point, yeah? Because every individual is going to be slightly different. And so you get it in different ways. Report an error in the passage at 43:05

43:33 The most profound expression of the Dhamma is by the Buddha himself, but it's also worthwhile listening to modern teachers because they give slightly different angles on the same thing. Once you respect the Saṅgha, you respect the training, the Sikha. Why? Because that training is what leads you to become a noble person. If you fully understand what the dhamma is about and what the areas are about, you know that that training is fundamental to lead those Aryan stages to become a noble person. Report an error in the passage at 43:33

44:10 And so you respect that training which leads to that because you know that this is the path to awakening. Of course you're going to respect that fully. What does it mean in practice to respect the training? It means you take it incredibly seriously. It means that every moment of your day, the dhamma is at the back of your mind, guiding all your actions, guiding all your thoughts, guiding everything you say. Report an error in the passage at 44:10

44:37 Is that happening in your life, that every step you take, the dhamma is kind of there in the back of your mind? Oh, I've got to be careful not to say the wrong thing or think the right thought. Don't think the wrong thought. Please think the right thought. thought, yeah. Report an error in the passage at 44:37

44:56 This is what it means to really respect the training, because you understand what it is, you understand how powerful it is. And if you fail, if you take a step backwards, you might die before you have reached the conclusion of that training. Every little step matters, every thought, every speech, every action. That is what it means to respect the training. Someone who respects the training, they respect samādhi. Report an error in the passage at 44:56

45:25 Samādhi is deep meditation. Especially Samādhi is the culmination of the Noble Eightfold Path. The last part of the Noble Eightfold Path is called Right Stillness. Samma Samādhi. Right Samādhi. The very last thing also known as the Jhānas. If you... Have respect for the path, you will also have respect for samādhi. Why? Because samādhi kind of brings all of the factors of the Noble Eightfold Path together in one thing, in the powerful stillness of the mind that you can experience on retreat, or maybe even occasionally in other places as well. Report an error in the passage at 45:25

46:03 All the factors coming together, they are unified in that samādhi experience. You respect samādhi because you understand what samādhi really means. That is extremely interesting and important because sometimes in the Buddhist world unfortunately Samādhi is not respected enough. Sometimes Samādhi is considered like even dangerous. I was recently in Sri Lanka and I was still surprised at how many places in Sri Lanka, how many monastics over there I still have this idea that samādhi is not so important. It is more like other kind of practices that are important. Insight. Report an error in the passage at 46:03

46:45 A little bit of samādhi is okay, but not too much. You just get attached to it. But actually it's the other way around. Samādhi is what you should develop to the fullest. That is... So high that the Buddha specifically says this is the one aspect of the training that stands out. Why? Because it brings with it all the other factors. Report an error in the passage at 46:45

47:07 Samādhi and then right view. Right view is the other thing because without right view that Samādhi doesn't have the power. But the right view is assumed here because you already have faith in the Buddha. So the Buddha kind of stands out. So Samādhi is what you have faith in. What the Buddha is really saying here, I should kind of bring out the whole thing here, if you have faith in the Buddha, you will also have faith in the Dhamma. Report an error in the passage at 47:07

47:33 If you have faith or confidence or respect for the Dhamma, you will also have respect for the Saṅgha. If you have respect for the Saṅgha, you will also have respect for the training. If you have respect for the training, you will have respect for Samādhi. So Samādhi follows as a natural consequence. Respect for samādhi follows as a natural consequence of having respect for all of these other things. If you don't have respect for samādhi, it shows you you don't really have respect for the Buddha and the Dhamma fully in the first place. Report an error in the passage at 47:33

48:10 So, very interesting, because it goes counter to how many in the Buddhist world think about these things. Next one, if you have respect for samādhi, you probably wonder when I'm going to stop, right? Report an error in the passage at 48:10

48:23 If you have respect for samādhi, well, that means that you have also respect for what is called appamada in the suttas. And appamada is translated sometimes as being heedful. Being heedful means to be careful. It means to be circumspect. It means that you think about what you're doing. Are you living in the right way or the wrong way? Are you doing things appropriately or not? Report an error in the passage at 48:23

48:49 That's the idea of heedfulness. Sometimes also translated as a diligence, but diligence doesn't quite get to the point. It's like a mixture of the idea of being circumspect and careful and being diligent. And heedful is a nice way of looking at that. So you are heedful if you are respecting all of these other things. Report an error in the passage at 48:49

49:09 Heatful means, again, this idea that you consider everything very carefully, every thought, every action, everything you do. Am I living in the right way? Am I doing what is appropriate? You are looking at your life from a broader kind of perspective, which allows you then to move forward and practice the path properly. Report an error in the passage at 49:09

49:29 And then, if you have that heatfulness, what is the very last thing that you respect? I'm coming to the end, I promise. The last thing that you respect is, you will be surprised to hear this, is hospitality. What do you mean hospitality? That seems to kind of not fit with everything else. What do you mean hospitality? Is it like serving beer to your customers? What is that? What's going on there? Report an error in the passage at 49:29

49:57 What I think it means, and it kind of fits with the overall idea of the dhamma, is that what it means is that we are hospitable. hospitable, especially to those people in the world who are the noble ones. When you are hospitable to the noble ones, it says in the Mahapanibbana Sutta, your country will grow, your country will be prosperous because you will have a foundation of right view, a foundation of the proper understanding of life right there in your country. Report an error in the passage at 49:57

50:27 And so here in the Buddhist society we also want to be hospitable to The noble ones, to those who are practicing in the right way, to those who are kind of leading everyone else, because when we are hospitable to those people, they will come, they will stay, they will help us to grow in the dharma in the right way, because they have the right outlook, they have the right understanding, and everyone else kind of follows along in the slipstream of the people who have right view, the people who are the Aryas, the noble ones in the world. Report an error in the passage at 50:27

51:00 That is why hospitality is so important, because it allows the right view to be established in your community. If you're lacking in that hospitality, then those people who have that right view, those who are noble ones, may not come to your community. And when they come, you look after them, and then that will be for the prosperity of that community, of that society, wherever that might be. Report an error in the passage at 51:00

51:26 So these are the seven things that the Buddha talks about, what we should Respect. He also talks about other things, but I'm not going to talk about those tonight. Maybe another day I'll talk about more things to be respected. This is how it goes. Starting with the Buddha, leading all the way down to hospitality. And if we get that kind of, if we have respect for all of those things, it becomes very, very powerful. Report an error in the passage at 51:26

51:51 And if you are able to think about these things in a way that actually It brings a sense of meaning to these words, a meaning like the Buddha. I talked about how to think about the Buddha a little bit before, how to make him more relevant in our lives, to understand who he really is as a person. If you're able to do that, and you're able to reflect about the Buddha in the right way, as a person who gives the greatest gift to humanity. Report an error in the passage at 51:51

52:20 You start to understand what it actually is that he has given us. The idea of meaning, of purpose, of all things that are important in life. There comes a point when you start to feel a sense of joy, a sense of inspiration in the Buddha. You can bow down to the Buddha and you feel inspired in doing that. Report an error in the passage at 52:20

52:42 And if you can feel inspired by bowing down to the Buddha, you are yourself on the highway to awakening. Because that inspiration, if you use that as a foundation for your meditation, that inspiration then leads to joy. The joy in turns as you deepen your meditation further leads to rapture, deeper and deeper states of happiness. That rapture leads to a state of tranquility where your mind and body calm down to the point where all you want to do is sit down and meditate and do nothing else. Report an error in the passage at 52:42

53:15 That tranquility leads to an even more profound bliss. All of this happens during the meditation experience based on the idea of who the Buddha was. And that bliss is the powerful element, the very attractive thing that draws you into samādhi and allows you to experience some of the deepest meditations that are available to humanity right there in samādhi, based on the idea of the Buddha. Report an error in the passage at 53:15

53:46 Merely because you respect the Buddha in a very profound way. And it really starts with the idea of bowing down to the Buddha, of respecting those qualities and feeling the joy that comes from that. And then when you achieve that samādhi, when you understand, when you have a very deep meditation experience, the path to awakening itself opens up for you. Report an error in the passage at 53:46

54:12 And then one day you too can become one of those Okay, so that is my little talk about humility and respect this evening. Report an error in the passage at 54:12

54:31 All right, so if anyone would like to say anything or ask anything or comment or whatever, please do so. Report an error in the passage at 54:31

54:48 Okay, we have some from online. Thank you, Jean-Marie. Okay, Report an error in the passage at 54:48

54:56 so... We can start from the hall or start online? I'm not sure. We can start. Okay. The president, I guess he has preference. Okay. Report an error in the passage at 54:56

55:09 Can Report an error in the passage at 55:09

55:13 we turn up the volume of that microphone a little bit? It's very low. I think my microphone got turned up. Yeah. Report an error in the passage at 55:13

55:28 Yeah. Yeah. Report an error in the passage at 55:28

55:51 Yeah. Yeah. I think it's just too loud. preference, yeah. Report an error in the passage at 55:51

· · · silence, 1 minute

55:56 This needs to be turned down. Oh, wow, that's very loud. You want to repeat? Okay. About being humility, about humility is a good quality, but people believe that it will end up you becoming a doormat, and then walk all over you. And then the solution to that, as we have heard from teachings, is you can hiss, but not bite. Report an error in the passage at 55:56

56:24 Right. So a few words about that could help. So how to hiss, is that right? How to hiss without biting. Thank you, Ajahn. I did actually mention that very briefly. But I said that it's possible to be assertive, right? It's possible to be confident. That is not against the idea of humility. So when things need to be said, you will say them. Report an error in the passage at 56:24

56:46 But you will say them in a way that does not go against the dhamma. But you can still come across fairly strong. You know, I mean, one of those things about people who have gone a long way on the path and who have powerful samādhi is that they often also have very powerful, they can speak in a very powerful way also, and sometimes you can feel that power behind them. Report an error in the passage at 56:46

57:07 And so humility here is a bit, humility in the sense of the ego is lowered, but humility does not mean the kind of... What you are talking about, which is being a doormat, doesn't mean that at all. Often it means the opposite. You are confident. You can be assertive because you know what you know. You have no doubts, right? You are perfectly, you are kind of unshakable in the world. And because of that, being a doormat is kind of impossible for the Arahant or that kind of person. Report an error in the passage at 57:07

57:39 So you hiss by being assertive and by stating what you know. Thank you, Ajahn. Report an error in the passage at 57:39

57:55 Okay, yes please Sandra. I just wondered if you could go back to the point around I was quite intrigued picking up that there are some teachers who believe that too much samādhi is a distraction. What are they meaning by that? Are they confusing it with a very concentrated practice that could make one to... Report an error in the passage at 57:55

58:26 Richard, to see insight? What is that actually getting at? I think what it is getting at is that they are concerned they will get attached to the samādhi. That's kind of what you often hear about. And that is, I think, fundamentally misunderstood because the point of the dharma in one way is that, first of all, attachment is part of the human experience. Report an error in the passage at 58:26

58:51 You have to be attached to certain things, the sense of self. It means that there will be attachment. And so really what the Dhamma is about is what we are attached to. So instead of being attached to stupid things like seeing silly shows on TV or doing stupid things in life, we are attached to something higher. Report an error in the passage at 58:51

59:10 If you are attached to samādhi, you are attached to some of the highest things you can possibly be attached to. And if you are attached to that, the next stage beyond that is awakening. And so it's completely the wrong way of thinking about things. The right way to think about things, if I can be attached to this, then I'm actually very close to awakening itself. Report an error in the passage at 59:10

59:30 And then you learn to deal with that attachment if it becomes too strong, so you can actually go further on the path. So it's more about learning to deal with it rather than avoiding it, which is the right approach there. Okay. Yeah, please. Thank you very much, Ajahn Brahmali. My question is about what is the correct sort of like interaction or the right view with regards to nowadays world because it's very different from from what the teachings of the Buddha is I guess because it's a lot of you know for example there is attention economy there is like a lot of ego everywhere. Report an error in the passage at 59:30

1:00:16 So how to interact with the world and practice dharma at the same time? Because it's almost like the opposites to me. It looks like it. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So maybe you need to interact less with the world. Maybe that's one of the ways out. This is one of the reasons why you become a monk. You kind of walk off into the forest to interact less with the world. Report an error in the passage at 1:00:16

1:00:36 There's a reason for that. This is not random stuff. So, yeah, it's true. And you will be influenced by the people around you. So if there are a lot of egos on the internet, sometimes your own ego will be affected by that, for sure. And if other people... Absolutely. So I would recommend just to know how things affect you. And when you understand how things affect you, then you can move away from those things that affect you in a bad way and move towards those things that affect you in a good way. Report an error in the passage at 1:00:36

1:01:06 This is one of the fundamental teachings of the Buddha that we should judge everything we do in life from how it affects us. Does it lead to better qualities or does it lead to worse qualities? And if it leads to better qualities, you should pursue it. If it leads to worse qualities, you should not pursue it. That's one of the kind of main foundations. So you interact with the world with care if you have to and you avoid those things that are really destructive and bring you down. Report an error in the passage at 1:01:06

1:01:31 Thank you. Report an error in the passage at 1:01:31

1:01:37 Thank you. What is the difference between sammasati and sammasamadhi? Sammasati is mindfulness. So it is a preliminary practice that comes before sammasamadhi. So for example, if you are doing your breath meditation, it's sammasati. Ānāpānasati is sammasati. Watching the breath. And then when that breath becomes very calm and eventually you enter a state of deep stillness based on that breath meditation, that is Sammasamadhi. Report an error in the passage at 1:01:37

1:02:12 Sammasati leads to Sammasamadhi. Thank you. My Report an error in the passage at 1:02:12

1:02:25 question is about respect. Is respect a state of mind where you're inspired to be like that person? So when you respect the Buddha, you're saying that you want to be like the Buddha? And is that part of the practice, that you in a way admire them or respect them and you want to emulate? I think that's part of it. Report an error in the passage at 1:02:25

1:02:48 It doesn't mean you want to be exactly like the Buddha necessarily, but it means that some of those qualities, you want to emulate some of those qualities, especially things like the wisdom quality. You can see the wisdom that is there and you realize that that would come in very handy in my own life, to have some of that wisdom. So it is part of it, but not the... Report an error in the passage at 1:02:48

1:03:08 You obviously don't want to be exactly like the Buddha. That's not possible anyway. So yes, that's a good way of putting it. But it means like putting it all the bit on a pedestal, putting it high so that you kind of, you know, you look up to it in a sense. Thank you. Report an error in the passage at 1:03:08

1:03:27 Mr. Reddy. Ajahn Brahmali, you know, talk tonight, you know, on humility, humbleness and respect, you know. You see the outside world, you know, they know, people know. For example, my experience, they ask me, oh, what's your religion? So I follow the Buddha's teaching. Oh, that's good, you know. People know it. Because that's the humbleness. And the Buddhism is a pathway towards enlightenment. Report an error in the passage at 1:03:27

1:04:01 I agree. And then when we do our prayer, I would say in brackets, our meditation, Prayer in brackets, okay? We always reverent to other people too. May all beings be well and happy. And then may I be well and happy. The question is, when you, instead of just me be well and happy, like for other religions too, they pray mainly. Report an error in the passage at 1:04:01

1:04:29 If you reverent others first, would it be more, the energy more powerful? If you want, if you... If you, like, for example, I was taught, okay, that, say, karma, say you have some problem, okay, so when you do your chanting, or some chant for you, okay, what you do is, you always say, oh, me, the good karma, Stay, for example, if there's a problem, me, for example. May the good marriage which I committed in my earlier life and my previous lives too, may that benefit other sentient beings and also me too, especially now when I need this good energy to help me through my difficulty. Report an error in the passage at 1:04:29

1:05:31 Yeah, that's the case because Mettā is universal. And because Mettā and Karuṇā are compassion and Mettā are universal, they include you and include everyone. Also, I read one source, you know, says if you dedicate only to you, it's not so, you know, you have to sort of dedicate to people too, you know. Report an error in the passage at 1:05:31

1:05:52 One self is a bit selfish, this thing, okay. Others, then more. Absolutely. This is the whole thing about generosity. Generosity is about other people. So it's absolutely fundamental. I think sometimes in our culture maybe we can become a bit too self-focused. I think there's a bit too much of that. And to be focused on being kind to others, etc., is I think more important. Report an error in the passage at 1:05:52

1:06:20 Usually you feel good about yourself if you're kind to others. Thank you. Okay, thanks, Sadi. So let's have a look at the... A few questions from outside of here. So we have the, where are we? We have from Wolfram Gabi from Germany. Dear Ajahn, why all the talk about achievements in Buddhism like stream entry, devas, power, etc. It only distracts from making peace, being kind, gentle and meditation. Report an error in the passage at 1:06:20

1:06:47 Why? The reason is because it's important to... To have a kind of overall perspective of the Dhamma as well. If the Buddha just taught meditation without any kind of clear goal or purpose, it said it must lead to something, otherwise it doesn't really, the whole thing kind of falls apart. At the very least it must lead to peace, but the moment you say it leads to peace, already you're putting a goal there. So regardless of what you say about it, it's going to put a goal into it. Report an error in the passage at 1:06:47

1:07:21 And so it is... It has to be part of the teaching that there is some kind of goal. That goal can be said to be peace, it can be said to be stream-entry, it can be said to be enlightenment or whatever, but that must be part of it for the whole thing to really work, otherwise the whole thing kind of collapses. Report an error in the passage at 1:07:21

1:07:38 However, once you start doing the meditation, once you start to get into it, then you... And put aside the idea of where you want to go. You don't think about the stream entry and the samādhi or whatever as you are doing the meditation. Because if you do, then certainly it will become a distraction. You're focusing on the goal rather than on the purpose of what you're doing. So in that sense it is correct. Report an error in the passage at 1:07:38

1:08:08 So you need the overall framework and you also need in the meditation itself to let go of that goal. Question number two. Ajahn, is there antrabhava mentioned in the suttas? Is near-death experience evidence for antrabhava? Thanks, Ajahn. So antrabhava means intermediate existence. And are they mentioned in the suttas? The word antrabhava is not mentioned, but there is a lot of evidence that there is such a thing in the suttas. Report an error in the passage at 1:08:08

1:08:41 A lot of suttas talk about the state between death and rebirth. The state between death and rebirth is precisely the intermediate existence. Is near-death experiences evidence for this state? I would say yes. To me it looks like it is evidence for that. How strong the evidence is, well, we can probably argue about that, but it seems to be evidence, because something is obviously happening. People are almost dead, and then they kind of talk about a barrier. Report an error in the passage at 1:08:41

1:09:10 If they go beyond that, they can't return again, and these kind of things. It seems to me that it is evidence. Some people prefer to explain it in other ways, but it certainly is evidence of a kind. Report an error in the passage at 1:09:10

1:09:22 Question number three. Dear Ajahn, could you please explain the five khandhas and what happens to them during death and rebirth? So the five khandhas are what you have right now. It is a particular way of describing your experience. So your experience right now, there are feelings there, good or bad. Report an error in the passage at 1:09:22

1:09:43 There are certain perceptions. You look at the world in a certain way. You make sense of the world. That's perception. There is a will. Awareness of what is going on. There is form. All of these things are the five khandhas. So your experience right now, that is the five khandhas in one way. What happens to them during death and rebirth? What happens to them is that they just transform. Just like the five khandhas are continuously transforming, right now I look around the room, my perception khandha is transforming. Report an error in the passage at 1:09:43

1:10:14 The feelings that go with that perception khandha are also transforming. The will looks here, it looks there. It is transforming. In the same way, when you die, there's a... More significant transformation of the five khandhas because it's a big change in experience. When you get reborn, again, it's a big change in experience or it's a significant transformation in the five khandhas. Report an error in the passage at 1:10:14

1:10:37 That's kind of how I would, one way of thinking about it. All right, so number four. Hi, it's Laura from the New Buddha Ceremony. Hello, Laura. I do remember you from the New Buddha Ceremony. Nice to have you here. Question, what do you think is a healthy level of ego for a layperson in today's world? And can you try to dissolve the ego too soon? Report an error in the passage at 1:10:37

1:11:04 Okay, so a healthy level of ego is as little as possible. That's the healthy level of ego. Can you try to dissolve the ego too soon? Don't. Don't try to dissolve it because you're just going to end up suffering if you try to dissolve the ego. Whatever ego you have is the ego you have. yeah and just don't don't try to dissolve it or whatever but notice the ego notice when the ego defiles your mind sometimes you will see that there is resistance inside of you sometimes you will see the ego give rise to So more important... Report an error in the passage at 1:11:04

1:11:39 notice when the ego causes a backlash and problems and then don't act upon it because if you act upon that ego then you're going to make bad karma as a consequence so more important It is actually just to notice it and then not acting upon it. That is more important. And then as you practice the Noble Eightfold Path, as you practice all these teachings, the ego will gradually diminish. Report an error in the passage at 1:11:39

1:12:05 That is par for the course. That happens. If you are kind to everyone, then sometimes the ego can't express itself because the ego doesn't want to be kind to everyone. The ego wants to express itself or whatever. And so there is a gradual diminishing of the ego as part of the path. When you get into deep meditation, there is no thinking there. Well, you realize a lot of the thinking was just the ego expressing itself. Report an error in the passage at 1:12:05

1:12:30 So again, you are reducing the ego. By the very practice of the Noble Eightfold Path. So don't try to dissolve it, because if you try that too hard, you're going to end up going a bit crazy. That's the reality, because it's the ego trying to get rid of itself. You can imagine what it's like. It's like a dog chasing its tail, right? That's basically what it is. Report an error in the passage at 1:12:30

1:12:50 And so it's not going to succeed. All right. Good luck, Laura. See what happens. Question number five. If anxiety can be healed through Buddhism, why is meditation necessary? Are the mind, brain, and spirit the same? I want to stop my medication for anxiety, but my doctor won't stop. Please advise that. Can anxiety be healed through Buddhism? Report an error in the passage at 1:12:50

1:13:18 I think ultimately the answer is yes. Report an error in the passage at 1:13:18

1:13:31 dysfunctional. If you have too much anxiety, you don't get things done. You can't really function all that well. So I would say use that medication while you're practicing the path, and then eventually you may be able to let go of that medication. But don't let go too soon. Know what's going to work for you. If you want If you want to try, maybe your doctor will allow you to try short periods without medication to test to see what happens, and maybe you find out actually you're better off being on that medication rather than letting it go. Report an error in the passage at 1:13:31

1:14:03 So Buddhism can help you overcome these things, but if the mental disturbance is so high that it disturbs your practice, then it may be counterproductive to get off the medication. Doing things at the right time is really important. Yeah, so good luck. Report an error in the passage at 1:14:03

1:14:24 Okay, everyone. So that is it for tonight. I'm just trying to eat the microphone. I shouldn't do that. So let's pay respect to the Buddha Dhamma Saṅgha. Report an error in the passage at 1:14:24